As the war enters its 427th day, we review key developments.
This is the state of affairs on Wednesday, April 26, 2023:
Diplomacy
- A senior Ukrainian official has said improving and extending a deal on the export of its grain can only succeed if the international community puts pressure on Russia. Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing a “way forward aimed at improving, expanding and extending” the agreement.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has blamed the West for a standoff over the Black Sea grain deal, claiming that Moscow had seen “virtually no results” from the pact for its grain and fertilizer exports.
- Ukraine’s presidential adviser has accused Russia of “hypocrisy” after Lavrov chaired a UN Security Council meeting on Monday about upholding the principles of the UN Charter.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa has decided to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) because of the court’s alleged unfair treatment of certain countries. His call comes a month after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin on charges that Russia unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.
- The Russian Foreign Ministry has expelled a Moldovan diplomat in retaliation for the removal of a Russian diplomat from Moldova last week.
- Sweden said it will expel five Russian diplomats who allegedly violated rules on diplomatic relations.
- The United Kingdom and France have demanded a ban on Russian and Belarusian state-funded athletes.
To fight
- Russian troops struck a museum in the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, killing at least two people and injuring 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
- Russia has started using its new T-14 Armata main battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions, state news agency RIA reported.
- Ukrainian forces on the west bank of the Dnieper River have regularly launched attacks on Russian troops on the east bank of the river near the city of Kherson, a regional official said.
- Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the world is “probably” on the brink of another world war, with risks of nuclear confrontation rising.
- Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of Putin, has said those Russians who have not served their country are “internal enemies”. invasion of Ukraine.
Weapons
- The Russian news agency TASS reported that the country could lift the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and short-range missiles.